"We, at the Ministry of Cooperatives, as well as Mr. President (Prabowo Subianto), are one thousand percent supportive of the idea of allowing cooperatives to participate in the management of oil and gas fields," he said in Jakarta on Thursday.
Speaking at the Indonesia Energy Outlook 2025 event, he emphasized that cooperatives, as business entities, have been successful in operating idle wells that were formerly managed by national oil and gas giant Pertamina in Muara Enim district, South Sumatra.
Here, idle wells refer to dormant oil fields that were not permanently shut down.
"Thank God, in Muara Enim, we can produce 15 barrels of oil daily. We are currently in the process of reactivating the third well," he informed.
He highlighted this favorable trend to encourage the ESDM Ministry to provide a legal basis for cooperatives to manage more oil and gas fields in Indonesia.
Juliantono said he considers allowing cooperatives to legally manage oil and gas fields as a reasonable move for the government, especially since it has permitted cooperatives to manage coal deposits.
In response to Juliantono's suggestion, Deputy Minister of ESDM,Yuliot Tanjung confirmed that his team is currently drafting a regulation aimed at encouraging cooperatives' involvement in oil and gas mining activities.
"We have been lacking this kind of regulation. Hence, I, along with colleagues at the Ministry of ESDM, am formulating a regulation regarding the participation of cooperatives in the management of oil wells, especially the idle ones," he stated.
Related news: Minister underscores importance of access to electricity for MSMEs
Translator: Putu Indah, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2025
